Crocodile Tears

The previous post was flooded with lot of queries and reactions from the football fraternity. But few understood the message. Some thought I was criticising the AIFF. Well, it was definitely not a tirade against AIFF deal or a corporate tie-up. I only highlighted the corruption inside Football House. It wasn't any figment of an imagination. So those who still couldn't read the actual message, I request them to browse through it once again.

Shouldn't we have some clarity on Indian football officials? There are plenty of unanswered questions which needs to be answered. We need to know who are the 'brains' behind Indian football's development? Why the 'outgoing' secretary Alberto Colaco is still around despite resigning last June? Some say it is his 'crocodile tears' which has helped him win those AIFF members who wanted his removal after former president Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi went into coma.

Ahhh. Crocodile Tears! In Hindi, we say magarmach ke aansoo. When I grew up , my mom had nicely explained me the right usage of the phrase. So here we are in the dubious world of Indian football federation where the dribble for power overtakes Indian football's development plans.

The Goan, who was hated by couple of vice-presidents and members till a year back, now successfully has wooed them. Sending 'rebel members' with the Indian teams as managers on outstation tours is seen as a perfect move to keep them quiet. You oblige them and then staple their mouth. So it was nothing surprising to see him continue as secretary without any protests. I was told by one state asssociation secretary that he always wanted to tour with the Indian team to a foreign country. Poor guy, he was never in the good books of the AIFF secretary because he isn't that 'influential' unlike others.

So Mr Colaco, we haven't heard of the appointment of your new successor. What happened to the interviews which were supposed to take place last September? The entire football fraternity want an answer. If it is a democratic process, let not the candidates sulk and deny them a chance to appear for the interview which was advertised by your office in July last year. I was told that the earlier process has been scrapped and the burly Goan had been asked to 'train' a youngster for the coveted post. Interesting, isn't it?

Last month, his Goan pal Joaquim Alemao was promoted as vice-president after spending a year as an ordinary executive committee member in AIFF. Wait. He uncorked one more surprise. The 'outgoing' secretary allegedly 'planted' Daman & Diu secretary Franco Miranda to the executive committee. For your information, Daman & Diu doesn't participate in AIFF tournaments and they were sanctioned for not following the AIFF norms. So why did Mr Colaco gave him an entry? Simple. Some say he purposely did it because he wanted to stop his Goan rival Savio Messias from becoming an AIFF member.

While some officials have turned out shadow 'agents', here the secretary himself has been using his office to snub his rivals. We have a request, please don't tarnish football and AIFF with your dirty politics. You guys can settle your old score outside the Football House, probably, over a mug of beer on Goa's golden beaches.

Who is this 'agent' inside AIFF?

Last year, I got an anonymous mail from someone who wanted to expose a big racket involving Indian football and that too right inside its headquarter at Football House. Almost a year later, the rumour have resurfaced again following the Panasonic deal with AIFF. There are strong rumours that one of the top AIFF officials has operated as a 'shadow' agent on behalf of Panasonic and in the process made good money. Last year, when I broke the news about this 'shadow' agent to AIFF's all-powerful and power-centric secretary Alberto Colaco, he looked the other way.

How can a person who is engaged in bringing money to football federation, can actually engage in personal business ventures? Why they use their AIFF profile to build network for their future business expansion? Colaco, once again, looked the other way and smartly evaded the question. Actually, he didn't want to answer because he himself has been partly responsible due to his faulty recruitment policies. No matter how much you make him understand, Colaco gives a damn.

In 2006, Colaco had appointed Satyajit Sadanandan. Football was not his qualification. He is an IIM Grad. Still he made it to the Football House because Colaco was hopeful that he would be an asset for Indian football as he will create marketing strategy for Indian football which was looking for financial support. After two years, Satyajit was promoting football but for his own company.

Colaco didn't specify why he had recruited Satyajit, who didn't have any knowledge about Indian soccer. Be its history or about the tournaments (surprisingly, he was made Director, Projects). Within two years, Satyajit ditched the federation and got engaged with his own business venture -- sports marketing company based somewhere in Bangalore. Sounds interesting, isn't it?

It was alleged that he even got hold of an influential FIFA official who was then looking after the south-Asian programme which included India as well. After the FIFA official quit his post, he found an ally in Satyajit, who was his India partner in a company which specialised in football consultancy. Some says that Satyajit and this AIFF official ('shadow' agent) is well connected and they work on a profil-sharing basis.

But who is this AIFF official who took a huge cut as the 'shadow' agent in the Rs 5 crore Panasonic deal? Why he gets this sort of leverage in AIFF? Is it morally correct to use AIFF contacts to reap personal benefits?